All language subtitles for Damian.Lewis-Spy.Wars.S01E02.Bombs.in.the.Sky.1080p.WEB.h264-CAFFEiNE

In the 21st century, The rules of
the spy war are being rewritten.

Today, intelligence agencies fight a new, more
elusive, And fanatical enemy radicalized abroad,

But very much homegrown,

An enemy prepared to stop at nothing
And spare no one to achieve its aims.

This is the story behind the biggest
Surveillance operation in british history,

And how the intelligence
agencies thwarted

The deadliest terrorist plot
ever devised on british soil.

On June 24, 2006, A flight from islamabad,
pakistan Landed at london's heathrow airport.

Disembarking was a british citizen, Abdulla
ahmed ali, on his way home to east london.

He came from a very
ordinary well-integrated family.

He had been to school, and had been a
fairly Well adjusted and effective student.

Quite charismatic, and within his sort of community,
He was clearly kind of a leader type figure.

But ali was being tracked By the
british security service, mi5.

He was under suspicion.

It was believed that he
was becoming radicalized.

Intelligence suggested that abdulla ahmed ali
Had just returned from northern pakistan,

Where he'd met with a
man called rashid rauf.

Rashid rauf was the link man between What
was going in al-qaeda's central thinking

And lots of operatives back
in britain and elsewhere.

A british citizen, Rashid rauf had
fled the uk for pakistan in 2002.

By 2006, he was a senior member of al-qaeda,
And the suspected mastermind behind a series

Of deadly terrorist
attacks throughout europe.

The moment at which ali Comes
into contact with rauf,

The threat picture around
him distinctly changes.

So it immediately shifts him
into a very different rank.

Though mi5 didn't know it yet, By the time abdulla
ahmed ali Returned to britain in June 2006,

He had also become a
frontline al-qaeda operative.

He was a terrorist ready To do
an operation by that point.

At the airport, Ali's passport
triggered an internal warning,

And mi5 agents carried out a
covert search of his suitcase.

What they discovered raised
more questions than answers.

There were bags of tang, Which is a sugar-based
drink, Which is sold in pakistan and india,

And quite a large
number of aa batteries.

Why you'd be bringing aa
batteries into the country?

They don't do anything different From other
double aa batteries, So that raises suspicion.

You have a situation here Where
you've got an individual

Who's been to a place that they're concerned about
Who suddenly returned to the united kingdom

With a whole series of material, Not
material that in itself is that dangerous

But material that is clearly being
brought Back for a very specific purpose

And one that they
don't understand.

The airport discovery
marked a critical moment.

Mi5 suspected something
sinister was going on.

They just didn't know what.

British intelligence was
already on high alert.

Less than one year before on July 7, 2005, A
homegrown terrorist cell had orchestrated

What became known
as the 7/7 bombings.

Across london, 52 people were
killed And hundreds more injured.

Counter terrorism chiefs Had vowed
to do everything they could

To prevent another
attack on british soil.

Abdulla ahmed ali appeared
to be a potential terrorist,

So he was placed under
24-hour surveillance.

He was given a code name, A two-word code
name, Which in his case it was lion roar.

Lion roar is
leaving the station.

Mi5 did not know that there was a much
More dangerous reason to be following ali.

At the moment he
was just someone

Who they were suspicious of.

It was just a case of
we have to wait and watch.

There was absolutely no sense
How big this was gonna become.

Mi5 was now
running the surveillance op

Alongside the metropolitan
police's counter terrorism unit.

The joint investigation was
named "operation overt".

Steve dryden was the surveillance coordinator For
the operation based in the major incident room.

This is the bit where we build up A
lifestyle picture of the suspect

To find out if he's doing
anything Which raises suspicions.

Target's moving
onto high street.

It's important to find out who he's with,
Who he's meeting, what his lifestyle is,

What he's actually doing,
what mosque is he going to?

Surveillance operatives Embedded
themselves within the community.

A team of more than 30 people Were
required to watch ali 24 hours a day.

These operations
expand very quickly.

It takes an extraordinary
amount of manpower.

You don't want the same people,
The same faces around every day,

So you've gotta
rotate those teams.

They don't employ the regular Kind of
people you'd expect to be police officers.

The team believed that ali Could
be setting up a terrorist cell,

So anyone he came into contact with
Automatically became a person of interest.

An intelligence picture
will be built up on them.

Who are they?

Is there any association with him
Or others of interest in the past?

Are they part of a network?

Are they going to a mosque Where we
have concerns about radicalization?

Every telephone conversation that is placed,
Every physical meeting that takes place

Will bring into the
picture other individuals.

So the network becomes a spiderweb
of people Within next to no time.

From the surveillance operation, It became
clear that ali was in regular contact

With a man named tanvir hussain, A 25 year
old who lived nearby in leyton, east london.

Ali and hussain are both old school mates
And clearly hussain looked up to ali.

He was clearly kind of
his older brother figure.

Tanvir hussain was a young man Who had grown
up in pretty much a western lifestyle.

He had gone off the rails
to a certain extent.

He had experimented with drink and drugs,
And then there was a paradigm shift,

And he went way past islam
and into extreme islam.

The two men were so close That
investigators believed hussain

Could be ali's second-in-command
in a terrorist cell.

Then, two weeks into the
investigation, Ali met a new contact,

Using a technique familiar
from other al-qaeda cells.

Lion roar meeting
unknown target.

They lay on the ground face down With their heads
together And actually talked into the ground,

And that is a classic way of making
sure That anyone with a long range mic

Can't pick up what
you're saying.

It confirmed
investigators' worst fears.

They were dealing with trained
terrorist professionals.

I think there's very clear evidence
That this cell had been trained in

Counter-surveillance
techniques in pakistan.

It gave us a wake - Up call to make
sure That we were ultra careful because

They were taking
care of themselves.

Right, stay on the unknown male.

I've got him.

The surveillance
team followed ali's new contact.

Within hours, they had
identified him as assad sarwar.

Ali was clearly kind of a leader, Natural leader
amongst his group, A very charismatic young man.

Assad sarwar was a bit more of
A bumbling figure if you will.

Once a mailman sarwar now lived 30 miles north
of london in high wycombe with his parents.

He was not the most
gifted intellectually.

He sort of tried to go to university
And dropped out fairly early on.

He'd never had a girlfriend, And he never
seemed to be able to hold down much of a job

But mi5 had seen enough To place
him under full surveillance.

He was assigned the
codename rich food.

As the scope of the
investigation grew,

Surveillance operatives were
tracking more than 20 people.

Teams were in place across london and the
southeast, With multiple live video feeds

Relayed to the operation control room
At scotland yard 24 hours a day.

It soon became clear to the watching
spies That three people in particular,

Abdulla ahmed ali, tanvir
hussain, and assad sarwar,

Were at the center of a rapidly
expanding terrorist cell.

As we were going forward with the investigation
And we were feeding in the surveillance product,

We were seeing suspicious activity,
Specifically from the three of them.

Tanvir hussain was followed to a pharmacy
Where he was seen purchasing large syringes.

I mean this is a man who's not
Very involved in chemistry.

Why does he suddenly
need to buy syringes?

That raises some red flags.

Assad sarwar was watched buying
Citric acid in local shops.

And abdulla ahmed ali Was observed
doing something stranger still.

Ali was seen by a surveillance team In a news
agent's shop Paying particular attention

To the bottoms of plastic drinks bottles, And
that made actually no sense at all at the time.

As the surveillance product's coming in,
We're trying to work out and feed forward

What we thought they were actually up
to, What the end game was going to be.

Then, investigators
uncovered a vital clue.

The surveillance team tracking
assad sarwar discovered

He was purchasing large
volumes of hydrogen peroxide.

Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical,
And it's a chemical that actually

Is fairly available
in our ordinary lives.

For example, hairdressers tend to use it a lot
Because it's something they use in bleach.

But hydrogen peroxide has
another use, As an explosive.

At a concentrated level,
it can be weaponized.

For them to be purchasing that there are no
other reasons You would buy hydrogen peroxide

If you are a radicalised terrorist
Other than to build a device.

Investigators began to think that the
tang And the batteries in ali's suitcase

Could also be
components of a bomb.

We knew that they would be
Constructing some kind of device.

We just didn't know what the
device was going to look like.

For mi5 and the metropolitan police, This
plot was becoming more sinister by the hour.

It was now clear the surveillance teams
Had exposed an al - Qaeda terrorist cell.

But they still had no idea of the scale Of
the plot they were about to undercover.

By July 2006, the british security
service And london's metropolitan police

Were deep into a major surveillance operation,
Tracking a homegrown al-qaeda cell in east london.

Every terror cell needs a
base from which to operate.

But for weeks, it wasn't clear if
this cell Had a headquarters at all.

Then, came a breakthrough.

The team tracking the plot's ringleader, Abdulla
ahmed ali, followed him to a new location,

A flat, in walthamstow,
east london.

Over subsequent days, surveillance operatives
Observed other members of the suspected cell

Entering and leaving
the property.

They quickly discover that
This is the hub of operations

Where the plot is
essentially being run from.

It was clearly the
center of operations.

If they wanted to gather intelligence,
This was the place that it had to be done.

So investigators
came up with a high-risk plan.

While the plotters were out, They'd attempt
to rig the flat with surveillance equipment.

This was absolutely crucial now That they
had to get access to this apartment.

There is actually a specialist police
unit And what they do all day long is

They practice getting in
and out of locked buildings.

Their task is to get into these places
And get out again without anyone knowing

They were ever there.

Investigators waited.

Until one night, a window
of opportunity appeared.

The surveillance team
alerted the operations room.

The flat was empty.

Subjects are
leaving the building.

Okay blue team go.

With no idea when the plotters would
return, The team had to act fast.

Come on blue team let's move it.

They install bugs and cameras That no
one will ever be able to ever find

Because they are extremely tiny.

Camera two is live.

Camera three live.

Roger that, all camera's
live, sir, done.

Right, get them out of there.

Let's go blue team, let's go.

Then, the unit had
to get out leaving no trace.

The infiltration op was
an unqualified success.

Now the surveillance team had extraordinary
access To the al-qaeda cell's command center.

For the first time they were able To
monitor what was going on inside there,

And that would prove
to be hugely important.

One detective told me that They
were almost laughing about it

Because it was like watching
a very bad big brother.

The security services were now convinced
The walthamstow flat was a bomb factory.

Ground surveillance teams were
instructed to sift through

Every possible piece of forensic evidence, For
clues as to what type of bombs they could be.

They were followed away
from the address one day.

One of them had a
plastic bag with him.

He put it into a rubbish bin.

That was recovered, and that had what I'd describe
As the component parts of aa batteries in it.

That was another light bulb moment Because it
meant that aa batteries were going to form

Some part of the device
that was being built.

Fifty kilometers away assad
sarwar, Codenamed rich food,

Was amassing a stockpile
of hydrogen peroxide.

Sarwar had tracked down suppliers
online, And traveled across the country

To buy small volumes
from multiple locations.

That's a good way of concealing the fact That
you're buying an awful lot of hydrogen peroxide.

I would describe sarwar
as the quartermaster.

He was the one who was purchasing
All the precursor chemicals.

By early August,
he had bought so much,

That he was observed dumping
a suitcase of excess chemicals

In woods by his parents'
house in high wycombe.

Now investigators began
to put the clues together.

They believed the plotters were developing
A new type of liquid explosive device.

Mi5 now judged the threat to
be so severe that they alerted

Their intelligence partners
across the atlantic.

Michael chertoff was secretary Of
homeland security at the time.

We typically had a Very close relationship with
the uk In intelligence and counter-terrorism.

In fact, maybe closer than
with any other country.

The scale of the developing
plot Stunned the americans,

Including chief of
intelligence, charles allen.

I recall very distinctly sitting in my office
At the department of homeland security.

I received a call from the
head of mi5 and his deputy.

They said they wanted to see me right away,
And then he laid out where this was headed.

This was very serious indeed.

Jose rodriguez was the cia's
Head of clandestine operations.

This was a really serious plot That
could rival 9/11 on its scope,

So I was very
concerned about it.

The american and the british security
services Agreed to collaborate.

Because the cia was deeply embedded within pakistan,
They took the lead monitoring rashid rauf,

The plot's ringleader based
in the north of the country.

One thing that perhaps The
americans have over the british

Is their intelligence gathering abroad, So
while we had everything covered in the uk,

It was very useful to be able to call
On the american expertise in pakistan.

Then after the investigation Had
been live for almost a month,

Video surveillance from the flat in walthamstow
Revealed the full extent of the plot.

What are they doing?

I don't know.

Can you zoom in?

Give it a go.

Investigators watched as tanvir hussain
And abdulla ahmed ali began to drill

Small holes in the
bottom of juice bottles.

It slowly became
apparent what they were up to.

They took a syringe, drained the liquid,
And then re-injected another liquid.

The consequence of that was
if you looked at the bottle,

It would look like an
unopened pristine bottle.

The seal on top of the bottle wasn't broken, Which
meant this bottle or bottles were gonna form

A major part of the device
that they were building.

The surveillance video revealed the bottles Were
being filled with a homemade liquid explosive,

Dyed with food coloring.

The battery casings Were used
to conceal powerful detonators.

The plotters were getting batteries, opening
them, Removing the inner bits of the batteries

And essentially using the shell to
then Put explosive material inside.

These were then placed
inside disposable cameras.

The tang powder would act as an accelerant,
Making the mixture even more explosive.

The terrorists had invented an entirely new
type of bomb Much more difficult to detect,

And, potentially, a much greater threat
to life That other al-qaeda devices.

We had never come
across a device like this.

There was great ingenuity in the way
That this device had been designed.

Investigators realized these small
And easily transportable bombs

Were designed to be moved
in their constituent parts,

Before being assembled
at the target location.

This had a terrifying
implication.

They immediately realized They were trying
to get past A high level of security,

And usually when you think of
that high-level of security,

You're either thinking a very secure
location Like, a ministry of defense,

Or some sort of official building like
that, Or you're thinking aviation.

They were designed to detonate In a
space where it could damage something,

And the obvious one was
inside an aircraft fuselage.

You'd create enough of an explosion To basically
punch a hole in the side of an aircraft.

An aircraft, of course, which is up in at
high altitude In a pressurized environment,

Which would have immediately
Essentially brought the aircraft down.

It would have worked.

It would have brought
down an airliner.

There could have been
huge loss of life.

Al-qaeda had weaponized planes
before, To deadly effect.

The events of September 11, 2001, Weighed heavily
on the minds of the intelligence community.

The white house had suffered
deeply Because of the 9/11 attack.

Intelligence had
suffered deeply.

That was very much in my mind.

In fact, never again can we allow
This country to be attacked.

We had received instructions From the president
saying, "do not let this happen again."

So we were very concerned
about this whole thing,

And we were not
gonna let it happen.

Since 9/11, Airport security was tighter than
ever, Meaning no terrorist had successfully

Targeted an aircraft.

But this plot proved that it was still
possible, And that al-qaeda was undeterred.

This was ingenious.

It showed that al
- Qaeda had advanced.

They were doing things that beyond What had
been done in the whole world of bomb making.

This was a very, very deadly
way of doing business,

With which we were not prepared.

The british and american intelligence
services Were close allies.

But now, with tensions heightening, Cracks
began to appear in the special relationship.

The british wanted more time.

They felt that they were
on top of the situation.

They wanted to collect
additional evidence.

In the uk, we're used to following terrorists,
Unfortunately, because of the ira.

So for decades now we've been
used to holding our nerves,

And trying to get the terrorists
as close to the moment

That they're going to commit
their crimes as possible.

There was disquiet between our approach And
the approach by the americans in pakistan.

The americans took, And always
do take a different view,

And they will spoil the plot, disrupt it, And
deal with what they've got there and then.

We had great confidence In the
british security services.

But we were nervous that there were
Other things that could occur untold,

That someone had been missed, Or an element
of the plot had been missed by the british.

We needed to be sure That we didn't allow things
to go on So long that someone would actually

Put a device on a
plane and blow it up.

The british intelligence
services won the argument.

But they knew that if they'd made the wrong
call, The consequences would be catastrophic.

By early August, 24 people were under Round-the-clock
surveillance, Most of them in east london.

800 surveillance agents were needed on
the ground To monitor all the suspects.

This was now the largest surveillance
operation Ever undertaken in the uk.

"operation overt" at its biggest involved
Every surveillance team in the country

Including northern ireland.

We were running out of teams.

What we needed was to know what the targets
were And who the individuals who were going to

Attack those targets
were going to be.

No stone was left unturned At
that stage of the investigation.

Then microphones in the walthamstow flat Picked
up a recording that made the team realize

The plot was of a greater
magnitude than they'd feared.

We got six people, in it.

Me, omar b, ibo,
aro, and waheed.

There's another three units,
There's another three dudes.

There's
another three more, yeah?

That a seven, eight,
nine, 10, 11, 12, 13.

That's 15.

No wait 18!

Think of it, yeah,
that's one more man.

To the listening intelligence operatives,
It sounded like there would be 19 bombers.

The number had a significance.

It was same number of
hijackers responsible for 9/11.

It looked like the british
bomb plotters were trying

To emulate the biggest
terrorist attack in history.

British security services had eyes And
ears on a major al-qaeda terrorist cell

Planning to blow up u.S. Bound passenger
planes Using liquid bombs assembled onboard.

British intelligence officers Were in close
contact with their u.S. Counterparts,

But there was disagreement
on when and how to move in.

Now investigators had picked up
evidence That the cell's ringleader,

Abdulla ahmed ali,
was getting nervous.

Writing to rashid rauf, The plot's
al-qaeda orchestrator in pakistan,

Ali admits to being
worried he was followed.

But there was one crucial thing
The conspirators didn't know.

Just how closely they
were being watched.

Despite his concerns, Ali took the
critical decision to go ahead.

They decide to press on with it Regardless
of the risk of surveillance being in place.

Truth was we were all over
them like a cheap suit.

Then on August 6th came the information For
which surveillance team had long been waiting:

The specifics of
the intended attack.

Ali was followed by an mi5
agent to an internet cafe.

She was able to get onto a computer quite
close to him To work out that he was looking

At aircraft times
and departures.

Ali was researching A number
of transatlantic flights,

Departing heathrow within
a two and half hour window.

All these flights would be
Departing heathrow on a given day,

Late in the afternoon between 4:00 and 7:00 p.M.,
And would be flying over the north atlantic

And would be blown up
simultaneously as they flew.

The timing was critical, Coordinated for
maximum impact and maximum loss of life.

They were intending to wait until the planes
Were sufficiently far away from the uk.

That if one bomb went off And the
other planes wanted to turn around,

They would not have enough
time to get back to safety.

This looked like a plot, potentially, With
a loss of life of up to 2,000 people.

A huge horrible,
horrendous, murderous plot

That could have created great
damage to the united states.

It was really very scary indeed.

This was now the most significant
Terrorist conspiracy since 9/11,

Designed to instill panic
in both the uk and the u.S.

The specifics of the attack Revealed
the uk was to be used as a launchpad

For a direct attack on america.

For those in washington,
This was a game changer.

Once we knew they were focused On aircraft
going to the u.S., it became our problem.

I mean until then we thought It was a
serious issue for the uk government,

But then it became our jurisdiction
When we became the target.

For me, that's when I
said, "okay, this is imminent."

We knew who the principles were.

We knew who the
suicide bombers were.

We knew how were they gonna do this, And we
knew what flights they were going to blow up.

The only thing that we
didn't know was when.

The suspected terrorists Were
moving towards the action phase.

With an attack potentially just weeks away,
From his base in pakistan, rashid rauf

Was training the plotters
in counter-surveillance.

He was the guiding hand for them For issues
like make sure everything's in code.

Make sure you're not followed.

Make sure you dump everything
far away from the house.

Rauf knew that the terrorists would have To
make it through post 9/11 airport security.

So he ordered them to ditch their old
passports And apply for new ones.

They had stamps entering and leaving pakistan,
And that may put them under more scrutiny.

Clean passports would have no visa
stamps, No enter and exit information.

This clearly showed that the plotters
Had been trained in counter espionage,

Then in early August, surveillance operatives
Monitored a chilling conversation.

The terrorists knew that a pakistani male travelling
alone Could raise suspicions at an airport.

But that a family would not.

Would your wife consider going
with you On the operation?

I think if I was to say to her That
this was a significant operation

She might even find it
in herself to do that.

What about the babies?

Maybe she could
take them with her?

Maybe, you know what I mean.

She'd like to do it though.

This meant you had a cell, Who was not only building
a device That was gonna penetrate security,

But was now talking in
terms of launching an attack

And really with this sort of callous disregard
For not only the lives of the innocent people

That they were gonna murder,
but also their own families.

It's absolutely a devastating thought
That they would do such a thing,

But, clearly, it would take them that extra
step, Give them that extra layer of protection.

Just two days later, Surveillance microphones
picked up Snatches of another ominous conversation.

Relax.

Speak normal english when
you mention allah do that.

Give a bit of aggression,
yeah, a bit loudly.

Could we rewind that, please?

It became clear.

Ali was directing the london plotters'
performances In their suicide videos.

Stop supporting our
puppets and helping our enemies.

If you do this, we
will leave you alone.

This was incontrovertible proof That the
operation had entered its final stage.

That told us they were In the
final stages of preparation.

That increased the intensity of our focus On
making sure that we were ready to take this down

At the earliest
possible opportunity.

Intelligence services Both sides of the atlantic
Agreed a potential attack was now imminent.

But in london, the metropolitan police
And mi5 still wanted to hold off.

It was the approach by the senior members Of
the counter terrorism command at the time

That we let them run until we
have absolutely everything.

What the british didn't know Is that
individuals within the cia had decided to act.

On August 8th, jose rodriguez, Director
of the cia's clandestine service,

Was already in
place in pakistan.

I just happened
to be on the scene.

The head of the service.

Me, on the scene.

The cia worked closely with the isi,
Pakistan's powerful intelligence service.

They informed rodriguez That they
knew of rashid rauf whereabouts.

We were possibly gonna be able to capture him That
very evening as he traveled in the tribal area

From point a to
point b in a bus.

Rodriguez faced a dilemma.

He knew that if they arrested rauf, The british
authorities would have to move to apprehend

The plotters in
london, immediately.

We had agreed with the british
authorities To give them more time.

We had within our grasp a terrorist
That was planning to blow up airplanes

That could have killed thousands of innocent
people, And I felt that we had a responsibility

To protect these people.

So I said, "yes, let's
just go ahead and do this."

Pakistan's isi agents stormed the
bus, And seized rashid rauf.

And after that,
all hell broke loose.

It was quite clear that We didn't
want rauf arrested when he was,

But the americans decided
to go ahead anyway.

I would say that the senior management Of the
counter terrorism command were very concerned

With the actions that the
american authorities took.

Was that diplomatic enough?

As soon as the plotters got news That rauf had
been arrested, The risk was they would flee.

It was now a race against time To round
them up before they detonated their bombs.

For the met police and
mi5 it was time to move.

In london, Mi5 and the metropolitan
police moved immediately

To arrest al-qaeda ringleader, rashid rauf's
24 suspected co - Conspirators in the uk.

To suddenly have to Abruptly
wrap this whole thing up

In such short time was certainly not the way
That they wanted the operation to roll out.

There was a sense of Tension
in the air at scotland yard.

No one really had to come in
because no one had gone home.

Everyone was there.

Everyone was at their desk.

Everyone was working.

This was now a critical
national emergency.

Within three hours,
an additional 300

Specially-trained were
drafted for the arrest phase.

You saw this massive operation
Suddenly click into action

With the police and with security services
To go and wrap up this really large cell.

There was a mad rush to
get arrest teams in place.

We had to do what we do best very, very
quickly, And that's just adapt to the situation

And that's what happened.

As the arrest teams took their positions,
The surveillance unit tracking assad sarwar

Reported he was heading from
high wycombe toward london.

Blue team not too close.

At the same time, the ringleader, Abdulla
ahmed ali, was also being tracked.

All right, lion
roar is on the move.

There were surveillance teams on everyone,
But on, particularly, on sarwar and ali.

Sarwar was travelling
from high wycombe.

Rich food is turning
east toward walthamstow.

As sarwar approached the city, Ali was
followed to a car park in walthamstow.

It became clear to the surveillance team
The two men were going to meet each other.

The ringleader was to meet the quartermaster,
A clear sign that the bomb plotters

Were about to move into
their attack phase.

The surveillance team believed ali and sarwar
Could be about to exchange the explosive devices.

They are the two most
important in this plot.

So the decision was taken To allow
the surveillance team to move in.

Go all teams, go all teams.

All teams go, all teams go.

- Hey, stop!
- Hey, don't move!

- Do not move!
- You're under arrest!

We had to get them into custody,
And that was our main aim.

When investigators searched the vehicle,
They found a usb stick containing

Flight details and
suicide videos.

Possibly the most important bit of evidence That
we found throughout the whole investigation

Was in his pocket at
the time of arrest.

With the two main conspirators now in custody,
The race was on to round up the others.

Through the night, 46 properties across
london And the southeast were raided,

With a further 22
people arrested.

We had 24 suspects and that evening, We managed
to get hold of them, Take them all into custody,

And make sure there
were no stragglers.

Every suspect the police had
been watching Was accounted for.

The next morning, britain woke up to news
That a major terrorist plot had been foiled.

There were plans for as many as nine
aircraft Flying from the united kingdom

To the united states of america to be attacked,
Possibly by some form of liquid explosive.

Another 9/11 had been averted,

Thousands of lives
had been saved.

But authorities were concerned That knowledge
of how to build these liquid bombs

Could already have spread
through the al-qaeda network.

So governments around the world reacted
immediately To ban all liquids on all flights.

The plot was basically over.

The threat was over.

Now, what remained
was total confusion.

From one moment to the next, Airports
were thrown into total and utter chaos.

We spent a lot of time putting together
a plan So that when an arrest was made,

We could immediately shut down The ability
to bring any liquid on the plane.

Air travel
would never be the same.

Of the 24 suspects arrested, Eight were
initially tried for terrorism offenses

In connection with the plot.

Abdulla ahmed ali was sentenced to life in
prison, With a minimum term of 40 years.

Assad sarwar and tanvir hussain Were
sentenced to 36 and 32 years respectively.

In 2007, rashid rauf
escaped from police custody.

In 2008, he was killed in
a drone strike in pakistan.

Today, our police and security
services remain engaged

In a hidden battle to preempt
devastating terrorist attacks.

I would say this is a beacon of excellence For
how surveillance operations should be run.

This operation was a huge success For
the british and for us back home.

Our security forces
were incredibly successful

In preventing a massive
atrocity from taking place.

It's really actually a real notable
moment In counter-terrorism.

Twelve years on,

This investigation is held up As one of the
great operations in intelligence gathering,

And a crucial success in
the fight against extremism.